Electrical toasters are used in a wide variety of applications ranging from small one or two slice home toasters to larger continuously operating commercial toasters. Such appliances are used to toast sliced bread, rolls, muffins, biscuits, bagels, buns and similar food products. Commercial toasters are used widely in high volume restaurants, for instance.
One type of continuously operating toaster is a conveyor toaster which can continuously move food products seriatim through the appliance. A typical conveyor toaster includes a housing defining at least one toasting cavity. A conveyor defines one side of the cavity for conveying the food products therethrough. A toasting heater platen defines an opposite side of the cavity spaced from the conveyor to sandwich the food products therebetween as the products are conveyed through the cavity.
One type of conveyor toaster which has become quite prominent, particularly in high volume restaurants or similar establishments, is an "upright" conveyor toaster. Such toasters have generally rectangular upright housings defining vertically oriented cavities with vertical conveyors therewithin. A top mouth is provided in an upper wall of the housing for depositing the food products into the cavity. The toasted food products exit the cavity through a bottom opening in the housing. A major problem with such upright toasters is the height of the toasters when placed on conventional countertops in high volume restaurants or similar establishments. If the appliance is too high, it is extremely difficult for many individuals to deposit the food products into the top mouth of the upright housing. If the appliance is made too short, it is difficult to direct the toasted food products away from the bottom opening in the housing. In other words, a ramp typically is provided immediately below the bottom opening in an attempt to direct the toasted food products forwardly away from the housing so that the products do not stack-up and jam immediately below the bottom opening in the housing. This could be solved by providing a rather steep or highly inclined ramp, but such ramps would undesirably increase the height of the appliance.
The present invention is directed to solving the myriad of problems discussed above by providing a unique flexible chute at the bottom opening of the toasting cavity to direct the toasted food products from the bottom opening forwardly of the appliance. The flexible chute provides a unique variable radius as the products exit the cavity. The flexible chute is so effective that the entire upright housing can be tilted forwardly so that the top mouth for depositing the food products into the cavity actually faces an operator. Of course, it should be understood that the invention and the advantages thereof are equally applicable for other heating apparatus for food products other than conveyor toasters.